The purpose behind most fishing lures is to convincingly simulate natural prey, such as insects, worms, or smaller fish, upon which particular types of fish game feed. Such prey often exhibit specific oscillatory motions, such as horizontal or vertical oscillations as they move through the water. Clearly, any fishing lure that closely mimics the behaviour of such prey will be an effective lure for these game fish.
Several fishing lures found in the prior art address such oscillatory behavior. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,504 granted to Mattison on Oct. 20, 1987, teaches a fishing lure with a diving plane fixedly attached to and extending forward from a lure body. A stabilizing fin is included to prevent the lure from spinning. Unfortunately, the stabilizing fin also limits the degree to which the lure oscillates from side-to-side. While this type of device does exhibit a small degree of side-to-side motion when pulled through water, many insects and smaller fish exhibit a more aggressive motion, and consequently this type of lure is not entirely effective.
Another lure, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,339 to Le Master on Apr. 17, 1973, teaches a small fish-like lure with a V-shaped frontal vane, one side of which is larger than the other. A fishing line is attached at an eye located at the intersection of each side of the vane. Again, this type of device exhibits a degree of wobbling motion when motivated from the eye through water. However, the degree of oscillation is limited by the placement of the eye on the vane structure, and as a result this lure does not have aggressive activity and tends to rotate. Other U.S. Patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,229 to Nicholson, III, on Mar. 28, 1989, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,191 to Spivey on May 22, 1979, are similarly limited in effectiveness due to the positioning of the eye on or near planar deflector members. Moreover, typical prior art devices of this type usually are not suited for both deep water and surface fishing, nor are they relatively simple to manufacture. Further, such devices, especially wooden lures, are often not strong enough to withstand the forces of a biting and fighting fish since the lure body is used to link the catching hook and the fishing line. This is a general mistake since the body usually does not have the strength needed for the forces involved.
Clearly, then, there is a need for a lure that more accurately simulates the back-and-forth or up-and-down oscillations of flies, bugs, worms, frogs, leeches, minnows, crickets, and the like. Such a needed device would be relatively simple to manufacture, would have at least one deflector blade for imparting said oscillations, and would have a high strength linkage between the fishing line and the hook for improved strength. The attachment position of the fishing line to the deflector would be optimized, and there would be no need for a stabilizing fin or the like that restricts lateral movement in such a lure. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.